The Slayer and the Witchlighter
by Mirrored Illusions
Summary: Buffy meets her teenaged guardian angel.
1. A Conversation In A Cemetery

**Challenge** : The 2016 August Fic-a-Day Challenge on the Twisted Shorts comm on LJ. Day 6.  
 **Disclaimer** : BtVS belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, et al. Charmed belongs to someone with big, scary lawyers.

Buffy was in a cemetery on the outskirts of a small town she had stopped in on her way to, well… She wasn't actually headed anywhere in particular. After Sunnydale, after the chaos in Los Angeles afterwards, after the initial reconstruction of the Watcher's Council, after the battle and death of Angel and his crew the year after Sunnydale disappeared into a sinkhole, she had decided that she needed some time by herself. Unsurprisingly everyone and their kitten had objected for any and all reasons they could think of, and some that just made her roll her eyes, but in the end she had packed her bags and put it in her new car, and simply left.

Dawn had whined and cried, Willow had tried telling her that she needed to be a leader and to teach the new Slayer, and Xander had tried to be funny while essentially blackmailing her, and when that didn't work he had accused her of abandoning them again. Giles had been too busy to notice until she had actually left. Their reactions had hurt, but she hadn't been surprised. Not really. It was how they had acted towards her for years.

Faith had been the only one who understood and approved. No doubt a result of her upbringing. Instead of trying to get her to stay she had given her a list of places to visit, advice on how to deal with certain people, and a promise to keep the others off her back. All she had asked in return was a weekly phone call and some pictures from wherever she went. Buffy had gratefully accepted.

Now she was standing in a cemetery looking at a teenage girl who had just appeared in blue and white lights. The girl couldn't be more than 16, 17 at the most. She was pretty with long, straight brown hair, blue eyes, and she was only a little taller than Buffy herself.

"I'm your new Whitelighter, or rather Witchlighter, or if you want - guardian angel. Normally we focus on good witches and future Whitelighters, but you've been deemed a special case. You're my first charge and I'm babbling. Sorry." The girl took a deep breath and reached out her hand which Buffy automatically shook.

"My name is Melinda Halliwell, and I'm not making a very good impression, am I?" She smiled sheepishly. "Basically I'm here to help protect you while you fight, and to get information for you."

Buffy blinked. Eight years as a Slayer and she got a guardian angel _now_?

The teenager and the Slayer spent several hours after that discussing their different roles and in the end Buffy agreed to a test period of one month. Who knew what might happen?


	2. Family History

**Challenge** : The 2016 August Fic-a-Day Challenge on the Twisted Shorts comm on LJ. Day 7.  
 **Disclaimer** : BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, et al. Charmed belongs to someone with big, scary lawyers.

It had been 12 days since Melinda had first appeared to Buffy and tried not to successfully to introduce herself in a polite and grown-up manner. Luckily Buffy had experience with shy and babbling teenage girls so she had given the girl a chance, despite being badly burned by the last girl who had given her that same first impression. And also despite wanting to be left alone.

Buffy knew full well that it was not good to be alone as much as she had been for the last few months, and remembering how much of a social butterfly she had been before she had been Chosen to fight evil, she had taken a chance and decided to trust this young girl. At least provisionally. Only time would tell if she was worth it or not, but at the very least she could become an ally down the road. Heaven knew that Slayers could really need the back-up.

In an attempt to prove that she was firmly on the side of good Melinda had healed a deep gash on her arm by holding her hand over the wound and letting a pleasantly feeling white light shine down on the wound. It had healed within a few seconds and left no scar or any other visible reminders of violence. Since then she had shown up every two to four days to check in on her. If for no other reason than to give her someone to talk to who knew something about what she was going through, even if it was not exactly the same.

As Buffy was dusting the last of a small group of vampires who had risen from the particular cemetery she was patrolling that night, she caught a gentle tinkle of small bells followed by the now familiar blue and white lights. Or orbs as Melinda insisted on calling them.

"Hello!" Melinda's cheerful voice greeted her as Buffy turned around and brushed the last of the vamp dust off of herself.

"Hi. You're in a good mood tonight."

"I am. We had everyone over for an early dinner. I know I can see them whenever I want, but there's something very different in everyone coming over to the Manor than if I have to orb or drive somewhere to meet a few of them. And Aunt Prue showed me another nifty potion to use against lower level demons. It's so cool when she comes by. Patience and Peyton are so lucky!" Melinda said all this very quickly and excitedly causing Buffy to laugh.

"I take it that Patience and Peyton are your Aunt Prue's daughters?"

"Um, yes." Came the sheepish reply. "Aunt Prue and Uncle Andy, he's a Whitelighter and a former mortal. They have two daughters who are Witchlighters like me because their mother, like mine, is a Witch and our fathers are Whitelighters." Melinda drew a breath before she continued.

"As I've told you, I'm the oldest of three; I have a younger brother named Chris, Christopher, and a younger sister called Primrose. We just call her Rose. We're all Witchlighters. It used to drive mom and dad up the walls when we played Orb-and-Seek all over the Manor and San Francisco." Melinda laughed at the memories of the childhood game, while Buffy laughed along with her thinking about how crazy it would've made her own parents if she and Dawn had orbed all around Los Angeles, and later Sunnydale, without either of them being able to come after them.

As Melinda reeled of her closest family, the two of them walked across the graveyard and over to a park bench and sat down. While they were getting comfortable, she stopped talking for a few minutes before she took up her story again.

"Mom has three sisters. Aunt Prue is the oldest, mom is second, Aunt Phoebe is third, and they have a younger half-sister named Paige. Aunt Phoebe has three daughters; Pandora, Paget, and Portia. She had Pandora with her first husband, Cole. He was a half-demon, Upper Level and very powerful. She thought the name was fitting given that her then-husband was a demon and her own unfortunate habit of turning evil because of various things." She sighed. "Regrettably she, mom, and Aunt Prue had to vanquish him. Several times, but he's permanently gone now."

Buffy thought she didn't sound entirely certain about that, but let it slide. It wasn't her business. From what little she knew about the Halliwell family, both from tonight and what she had said in their earlier meetings, it was obvious that they had more family issues than Buffy herself had ever had.

"Aunt Phoebe's second husband is a Cupid. His name is Coop and he actually took the Halliwell name when they got married. It was so romantic!" The teenage exuberance was infectious and Buffy smiled at her. In this day and age it was rare for a man to take a woman's family name instead of the other way around, but it was clear that the Halliwell's were independent women. It was something she could definitely respect.

"Paget and Portia are his. They have hybrid Witch/Cupid powers, just like I have hybrid Witch/Whitelighter powers. Pandora has hybrid Witch/Demon powers, but she's irrefutably good." Apparently this was a touchy subject so Buffy just gave an affirmative response, because what else could she say? That no, of course your cousin is evil? Not happening.

"Pandora really wants to meet you, especially after I explained to her that the Slayer powers were originally demonic but that Slayers, and you especially, are Chosen to protect the innocent." This statement was punctuated by a hopeful look towards the Slayer in question. "Her heritage is a precarious subject and she needs to understand that being good or evil is a choice she has to make, and stand by. We can all do evil things with our abilities."

Buffy nodded at that. "You're right, all kinds of power can be abused. If I had wanted to I could go on a killing spree because there are a lot of people out there who register as evil on my senses, but I can't really do anything about it because they are human. And the Slayer code says I'm not allowed to kill humans or hurt them to badly." On some occasions she had really, really wanted to torture and kill certain people, but it was out of the question. Faith's reaction to killing a man had highlighted why this was not just a rule but an important law to live by.

"I've used my powers, especially my strength and speed, against humans in the past. Usually on guys who got grabby against either me or other girls, but that is self-defense. There's a line that can't be crossed though, but she has to find that line herself. We all have to figure out where it is and then make sure we never step over it."

Melinda nodded. Both her mother and Aunt Phoebe had said similar things, but they were family and Buffy wasn't and that would hopefully make all the difference. She loved her little cousin and hated to see her upset. To the Halliwell's family came first, no matter how frayed the relationships might be or what had happened in the past.

"Will you talk to her?"

"Yes, but not yet. We're still in a trial period and I need to know more before I get entangled with your family." That got her some relieved laughter.

"We're definitely a handful. Remind me to introduce you to just one or two of them at a time. We can be a little… Um. Excitable. And there's often demon attacks when we get together."

"Demon attacks I can handle, they're pretty much an everyday thing for me. Family issues? Not so much." Melinda nodded, being able to orb was a great way to get away from that. At least for a little while and if she was willing to deal with the trouble it would get her into when she got home again. Then she geared up to continue with her family tree.

"Right. Where was I? Aunt Prue, mom, and Aunt Phoebe. That leaves Aunt Paige!" She grinned. "She needed a couple of marriages to get her Mr. Perfect as well. The first husband was Richard. He's a male witch from an old magical family. They have two daughters; Persephone and Pearl. The second and current husband is Henry. He's a mortal and a parole officer in San Francisco. They have a set of twins; Preslee and Nico."

Before Melinda could continue Buffy decided to butt in with a comment of her own. "So everyone in your family have names starting with a 'P' except for you, Chris, and Nico?"

"Erm, no. We have names starting with 'P', too. Mine's Providence Melinda, don't laugh." Buffy's lips twitched but she managed to just grin. "Chris' name is Christopher Perry, and Nico's name is Nicodemus Peregrine."

"Ouch. That's…"

"Yeah, I have no idea what they were thinking naming us like that. But the names starting with a 'P' began with Grams, my great-grandmother. Her name was Penelope. Grandma was Patricia, and my mom's Piper. It's one of those family things. Dad's an only child, so no cousins on that side." Then she moved on, clearly curious about her charge.

"But let's segue right into you telling me about your family. You said you have a sister, what's her name?" Buffy wanted to know more about the Halliwell family, like what powers each of them had, but fair was fair. It was her turn to start talking, so she did.

"My little sister is named Dawn. She's six years younger than me and still in High School. Our parents divorced when I was 15, and mom died of an aneurysm when I was 20. I've barely spoken to my father since the divorce. My second Watcher has at times been like a pseudo-father, but he began pulling back not long after mom died. So in that regard he's kinda like my real father; not present. Kinda ironic, but there you have it."

Buffy drew her breath to center herself, it was a painful topic but Melinda had run through her own family so she could do it, too.

"I had a cousin named Celia who was killed by a demon called Der Kindestod when we were eight. She was my best friend. Celia has two brothers, Tom and Steve. Their mother is my Aunt Arlene, and I also have another aunt named Lolly. I lost contact with them at some point point between then and moving to Sunnydale at 15." She'd been a self-absorbed teenager back then and then she became the Slayer. Staying away from extended family had been encouraged by Merrick, her first Watcher, to keep them safe. What he hadn't said was that that was just one of the reasons. The Watcher's Council wanted their Slayers isolated so they would be easier to control and being close to anyone, especially family, made Slayers less likely to blindly follow orders.

Suddenly an abrupt ringtone broke the short silence followed by Buffy's summary of her own family history. Both of them immediately patted themselves down looking for the source of the noise. It turned out to be Buffy's and looking at the display she saw 'Faith'.

"Sorry to cut this short, but it's time for my weekly chat with Faith. This is going to take a while so I'll see you in a few days?" It was a little abrupt but she knew full well that her fellow Slayer would just keep calling, and if ignored there were unpleasant consequences. Buffy was also supposed to do the actual calling, which meant that she was more than just a little bit late.

"Of course. Stay safe and remember to call out my name if you need any help." Then she gave the Slayer a last smile before disappearing in the blue and white lights. Buffy sighed. Saved by one bell only so she could deal with something else. She pushed the appropriate button and greeted the woman on the other end.

"Yo, B! Do you know what time it is?" The gravelly voice was both familiar and sort-of welcome. It meant she didn't have to talk about her past family history, but on the other hand it meant a conversation about her former friends.

"No, I was talking to a new friend and completely forgot about the time." Then she began to report on what she'd been up to since the last call, which was then followed by Faith returning the favor.

Throughout it all she made no mention of the fact that her new friend was a witch and her guardian angel. It was still her secret.


	3. Teenage Healer

Challenge: The 2016 August Fic-a-Day Challenge. Day 13.  
Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, et al. Charmed belongs to someone with big, scary lawyers.

"Melinda!" Buffy yelled up towards the sky. It was the first time she'd had to take advantage of having a guardian angel, but she had walked right into a group of three vampires who had decided to have a family of four as their dinner that night. Dusting the vamps had been easy enough, none of them had expected any real resistance, but both of the adults had been really badly hurt trying to defend their children and themselves. Especially the husband looked like he wouldn't survive long enough for an ambulance to arrive.

Thankfully the children had gotten away with only a couple of scratches and the shock of finding out that there really are undead out there who drink the blood of the living. The additional shock of seeing their parents nearly beaten nearly to death probably hadn't helped either, but it could've been so much worse.

The young woman in question arrived in her familiar orbs and upon quickly assessing the situation she promptly kneeled on the ground and put both of her hands over the critically injured man. The light glow immediately began to heal him as she moved her hands over first the most obviously damaged areas and then over the rest of his body as he woke up looking scared and confused. Then she repeated the procedure over the less critically wounded woman, before holding one hand over each of the children.

By the end of it all four of them were staring wide-eyed at the teenage girl who had just shown up out of nowhere and then begun healing all of their injuries, and then they switched over to the young twenty-something woman who had killed their attackers. They kept moving their eyes between the two while randomly looking at each other as if wordlessly trying to convince themselves that this had really happened.

"Are any of you hurt anywhere else?" Melinda's voice broke the silence which had descended over them all.

"No." Came the awed voice of the husband as he finally got up off of the ground and gave his wife a hand as well. The children had somehow managed to stay on their feet. "Thank you for whatever it was you just did to heal us. Thank you for saving us, both of you". The first had been directed at Melinda while the second part had been aimed at Buffy.

"I'm Charles Dunham. This is my wife Catherine, and our children Frederick and Camilla."

"I'm Melinda, and I'm a sort of guardian angel". It was best to get that part out there fast so there would be less questions to answer as it usually negated all the how's and why's of how she could magically heal people. It also made it easier for her to get away. "That's how I was able to heal all your injuries so you don't have to go to the hospital and try to explain to them what happened to you". She gave a friendly smile.

"And I'm Buffy. I fight vampires like the ones who just attacked you. And speaking of vamps; you really need to stay away from back alleys and other less crowded areas, especially after dark. It's unlikely that you'll get ambushed again, but please take precautions in the future anyways. Particularly if you've got your kids with you." She gave them a chance to try and digest that before she continued.

"Can we walk you somewhere? It would make both of us feel better to know that you get safely to wherever you're going".

Catherine Dunham replied, "We only took this shortcut to get to the parking lot on the other side, but please walk with us the rest of the way". She let go of her daughter's shoulders and took her hand instead. At the same time Mr. Dunham took their sons hand, and all of them walked out of the dark alley and over to the other side of the parking lot to the Dunham's car. Because, of course, the car had to be as far away as possible.

There were more explanations on the way, with questions from both the adults and from the children as they had regained their voices and kept asking one question after the other. Apparently Frederick and Camilla had promptly decided that Buffy was Supergirl and Melinda was some kind of cartoon doctor that neither of them had ever heard of. However they eventually got the family into their car, politely declined the offer to be driven home citing that Melinda could simply orb them wherever they needed to go, and then they were home free.

Buffy tucked some of her errant hair behind an ear as she gave her Witchlighter a genuine smile. "Thank you for the quick rescue. I don't think Mr. Dunham would've made it to the hospital if you hadn't come".

"You're welcome. That's one of the reasons I was assigned to you." Melinda smiled at her only charge before she tried to hide a yawn behind her hand. Evidently the adrenaline kick she got from the emergency call was wearing off.

Buffy raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow. "Were you sleeping?" It was after midnight after all and normal people, especially teenagers, were supposed to be in bed, fast asleep. The obvious sleepwear was also a big clue, making Buffy secretly glad it had been so dark so the Dunham's hadn't been able to see their clothing clearly. Unlike Slayers who were naturally nocturnal so they would be at their best while their prey was out and about causing all kinds of trouble.

"Yes, but I'm supposed to be available to you at all hours so don't worry about it". Melinda tried to defend herself, a little worried that this might be a reason for Buffy to chose not to allow her to remain her guardian angel. Her trial month was up in six days, and she really, really wanted to continue. Getting to know Buffy had proven to be both fun and interesting, and it helped that Buffy had begun to unwind as well.

"Uh huh," Buffy replied. "Right. Back to bed with you. I'm sure you have school tomorrow as well". The slightly guilty look on the girl's face was all the reply she needed.

Melinda relented, "Okay, okay. Stay safe and have a good night." She was tired and her warm bed back home was extremely tempting. Besides, it wasn't like anything would be decided tonight, and arguing about it would only make her sound like a petulant child.

"Goodnight".

Melinda disappeared in the blue and white lights, and Buffy was left alone in the dark parking lot all by herself.


	4. A Conversation At the Top of the GGB

Challenge: The 2016 August Fic-a-Day. _Day 16_.

Melinda's trial month was officially over, and she was pacing in her bedroom trying not to be nervous while waiting for the clock to finally strike 22:00. It was the prearranged time for her to meet Buffy so they could have a long talk which would include the final answer to whether or not she would be able to keep her first charge, or not. The outcome of this discussion would also determine if she would be allowed to get a second charge next year, or if she had to wait longer.

21.42. She kept pacing. Back and forth across her bedroom, from one side to the other, and around the room along the walls in an attempt to curb the jittery feeling.

21:59. She stared at the clock and willed it to move forward another minute. When it finally did, seemingly an eternity later, she orbed out.

She reappeared in blue and white lights in yet another cemetery. It was something she could've done without seeing again for a long time, but as it was one of the haunts of the Slayers of the world that was unfortunately not an option if she wanted this to work. The Slayer herself was waiting patiently for her arrival while calmly scanning her surroundings for any threats.

"Hi. Do you mind if we have this conversation somewhere else?" It was risky, but she loved the view from the bridge and if she was completely honest with herself she wanted the comfort of something familiar to support her.

"Hi, and sure. Where are we going?"

"The Golden Gate Bridge. It's sort of a popular thinking spot for those in the family with the orbing ability. There's also a fantastic view of the San Francisco Bay from there."

Buffy held out her hand and Melinda took it before they both vanished in the blue and white orbs. Seconds later they were standing at a high vantage point on the bridge, and Melinda released the hand she'd been holding. Beside her Buffy was looking curiously around her: first around the top of the bridge where they were standing, then down at the cars and the water far below them, and finally at San Francisco in the distance.

"Interesting and a very beautiful view. I can definitely see why your family like it up here." She smiled at the Witchlighter.

Melinda smiled back, and incapable of waiting any longer she simply asked, "So what's the verdict? Am I staying on as your personal Witchlighter or do I have to tell the Elders that you're either not interested in me or possibly not interested at all in our kind of back-up after all?" Please, please, please, say I can continue. Please, please, please. She chanted mentally.

"If I say yes, will I be able to change my mind later if it turns out we're not able to work together after all?" Buffy asked carefully.

"Normally a Witch or future Whitelighter doesn't have a say in who they get, but you're a special case. You're not a Witch and as a Slayer you can't become a Whitelighter, but you are a Champion of good and as such you theoretically have the right to one, even if there are extremely few Slayers who have been allowed their own guardian angel. Mainly, I think, because Slayers usually don't make it past a year and it's extremely upsetting for us to lose our charges." She drew her breath and continued.

"There's also something about the Elders not wanting the Watcher's Council to know about us or our little corner of the magical world since they're likely to try and take advantage of us." Buffy frowned at this, and the implied warning to keep quiet about Whitelighters and the Halliwell kind of Witches, but wasn't really surprised. The old Council had been cold and calculating, not caring one bit that their little chess players were living, breathing, human beings with feelings and a personality of their own. The new Council was better about it, but they were still much too willing to sacrifice people as long as whoever it was wasn't part of the inner circle or their group of friends and acquaintances. It was one of many reasons why Buffy was traveling on her own rather than being in the midst of everything.

Unaware of her tentative friends thoughts, Melinda persisted in her little monologue. "The Elders have made it crystal clear that I'm not to boss you around like Whitelighters usually do with their charges, but if you need help then I'm to orb to you no matter what as you're a top priority. Even if you're not the one who's hurt. In fact you can even call for my father, Leo, or Aunt Paige, Uncle Andy, Chris, Patience, or Peyton if you can't get a hold of me. If all else fails then yell 'WHITELIGHTER' and whoever is closest will assist you."

"Why do I get special treatment?" It seemed very odd. The Powers That Be had never taken this much interest in her other than to ensure that she kept on Slaying, and despite her unwillingness to work with her former friends and her former Watcher she still patrolled. She still dusted vampires and killed demons and what not. So as far as Buffy could tell, there was no reason for them to interfere.

"Actually I'm not sure, but I got the impression that there's some kind of deal or arrangement or something involving you between your PTB and my Elders. Other than that, I don't know." She gave Buffy an apologetic look.

"Okay, I'm in." Melinda's relieved grin nearly split her face in excitement it was so wide. "But I reserve the right to change my mind at any time." YES! She yelled mentally in her own mind, before she actually started to bounce a little on her toes, and then blushed lightly when she realized what was doing.

Still, she managed to get out, "Of course, this is up to you."

"Also, I want to know why I'm getting the royal treatment all of a sudden. It isn't like them, and I want to know what they're planning and/or what they're hoping to accomplish with this. If necessary I want a face-to-face conversation with one of the Elders so I can ask my own questions."

Melinda promised to forward the message to the appropriate people and they continued their conversation. They tried to iron out the details of how everything would work between them, like how often Melinda should drop by and a few other things, or at least as far as anything could be planned in the unpredictability of their lives. They also went through what Buffy thought of Melinda's various visits, and how she had handled the few emergencies that had cropped up during the trial month.

Around four in the morning Melinda orbed them back to the cemetery she had picked Buffy up from, and Buffy went back to her patrol of the small city she was in that day. It wasn't like she slept much anymore.


	5. Pleased To Meet You

**Challenge** : The 2016 August Fic-a-Day Challenge on the Twisted Shorts comm on LJ. _Day 27_.  
A/N 1: I'm a little iffy on the canon timeline for when Pandora/the Source's Heir was/would've been born, but since I've already referred to her as being younger than Melinda I'm making her the same age as Chris rather than the same age or older than Melinda.  
A/N 2: I've only seen a few episodes of AtS so my apologies to any inconsistencies concerning that show.

Buffy entered a cafe in yet another small town and immediately scanned the medium sized room, and catalogued both the interior and the customers along with the few members of staff. She also noted all the exits, the windows, and the doorways to other areas. On the other side of the room her friend was sitting at a table beside a black haired teenager whom she knew was Melinda's younger half-demon cousin. Her senses pinged a little but the younger set off any alarms.

She crossed the room, walking around the noon crowd, and greeted her guardian angel.

"Hey, sorry I'm a little late. My sister's in a particularly whiny mood today apparently and felt like sharing the misery with me, long distance." She honestly loved her sister, but the relief of not seeing her every day was palpable. The betrayal still stung and even an indirect mention of Dawn brought it back up again. Add in that none of her so-called friends or sister understood how horrible they'd acted towards her back in Sunnydale and it was just twisting the proverbial knife even deeper. Petulant calls like the one she'd received today didn't help.

Melinda smiled, "That's okay. Believe me, we both know all about petulant siblings."

Buffy laughed. Given the size of the Halliwell family there was no doubt in her mind that they could relate on some level to someone throwing a hissyfit for one reason or another. It made her miss Celia, and she made a mental note to see if she couldn't get back in touch with her own two cousins. It probably wouldn't go very far, but attempting to reconnect with her family hopefully wouldn't cause any disasters. Hopefully.

Then Melinda sat up straighter and got a little more serious. "Buffy meet my cousin Pandora Halliwell, Pandora this is Buffy Summers." Buffy smiled at the other teenager and reached out her hand.

"It's good to finally meet you, despite all the failed attempts to set up a meeting." Demons, family crises, friends wanting attention, and in the Halliwell's case school. It had been difficult and had included several cancellations, and in a couple of cases Melinda had shown up alone.

Pandora shook her hand and gave a more vary smile. "Pleased to meet you." The skin contact sent a small shiver up her arm, informing her in no uncertain terms that this was a part demon.

In an attempt to relax the atmosphere between the three of them, Buffy decided to start of easy since they were in a very public setting and anyone could overhear them. "No family crises or last minute homework today?"

A grin from her Witchlighter was her first response, followed up by a quirk of Pandora's lips. "No, Mel has been on me all week to finish all my work early so nothing would stop this from happening today. And everyone has been informed that if something comes up they have to deal with it on their own."

Rather than reply to the younger of her table mates she looked over to the waitress who was walking over to take her order. Both of the Halliwell cousins had a cup of coffee in front of them, along with an empty plate. So Buffy ordered a cup of coffee for herself and a couple of ham sandwiches, while the cousins ordered a refill. Over the next twenty minutes the three of them had a slightly strained conversation while she finished her food. There was nothing like wanting to get to the real topic they wanted to discuss when there were too many curious ears in the vicinity who were not allowed to know about it.

Finally Buffy had finished and they went to pay for their food, and to order some coffee to go before they left. The three of them walked in silence towards a park several streets over where they could have their real conversation without any busybodies listening in. After finding themselves a couple of benches which were close enough for them to sit on they sat down and sort of stared at each other for a few seconds before they burst out laughing at the ridiculousness of it all.

"Right," Buffy joked. "We clearly know exactly where we're going with this." They laughed again, but the tension had broken. "To be honest I'm not sure how we're supposed to tackle this, or precisely what we're supposed to talk about." She looked over to Pandora.

"Melinda told me that you have issues with being part demon and she seems to think that I can help somehow because the Slayer Essence is actually a demonic essence and that's why I have the abilities I have." The specifics of this hadn't been discussed, which was an obvious failure on their part while trying to set up the meeting in the first place. But it was too late to fix that now and she would just have to wing it. It was what she did best after all.

"What if I go evil? Mom has a penchant for being turned evil, she was even the Queen of the Underworld for a while because of my biological father being the Source of All Evil at the time. And my aunts have also turned evil many times. My father was born evil, he spent over a century being evil before he met mom and tried to be good and *failed*." Pandora had clearly decided to trust Buffy with some of her fears as she went over some of her reasoning for her apprehension.

"Did they go evil by their own free will or were they coerced in some way?"

Pandora got a thoughtful look on her face before she replied. "Most of the time there was a spell or a potion involved, but not always. Mom *chose* to become Dad's consort." Buffy nodded; love made people do the wacky in more ways than one.

"So if there were magical spells and potions causing a drastic change in personality, behavior, and to change their allegiance from Good and over to Evil in most cases then it wasn't their choice. Don't get me wrong; it's bad that they're susceptible to change like that, but it doesn't seem to me like it's voluntary." Pandora opened her mouth to argue, but was quickly silenced by her cousin and Buffy continued after giving Melinda a brief smile in thanks.

"As for your mother choosing to become the Queen of the Underworld. Well, when you're in love you do a lot of things you wouldn't have done otherwise. Granted that was definitely in the extreme, but did she kill or torture innocents? Did she help her husband in doing evil things? Did she abdicate or was she forced to give up her crown?" It were some defining questions and would clarify Phoebe Halliwell's personal allegiance.

"Mom has never killed or deliberately harmed any Innocents. She left dad to save my aunts and Uncle Leo. From what I've understood something happened and mom went to warn Aunt Piper and Aunt Paige, things escalated and she and Aunt Piper and Aunt Paige ended up using a Power of Three spell mom wrote to vanquish dad for the first time in the penthouse he and mom lived in. She was pregnant with me at time." Buffy winced at the last part.

"Killing someone you love is horrible and breaks your heart in a way only people who has had to do the same thing can even begin to relate to." Hello tragic past and doomed love. Buffy saw her sword fight with Angelus in her mind's eye. Literally saw the soul returned to Angel's eyes as Angelus was suppressed once again, just a little too late to make a real difference. Knowing there was an open portal which would destroy the world right behind the man she loved more than anyone else, and that the only way to close it was a sacrifice.

Both Pandora and Melinda frowned at that so Buffy elaborated. "When I was seventeen I was dating a vampire who had been cursed with a soul. The soul was accidentally removed and the demon took over again and began causing havoc. It was insulted and angry over what the soul had done and in common vampire fashion set out to kill the people who made him feel love. Thankfully he didn't manage to kill me or my friends, but he did kill my Watcher's girlfriend. Mainly because he knew it would hurt us, but also because she was a member of the Gypsy Clan who had cursed him with a soul in the first place and therefore would've been able to curse him again."

The Halliwell cousins gave her sympathetic looks. "We're sorry to hear that."

"He, like your father, came back, but at least he was still Good. Our relationship had some serious complications after that, and it didn't help that half my group didn't trust him to begin with. We ended up parting ways not long after. He moved to LA and started a detective agency who saved people from demonic problems."

"You're speaking about him in past tense. Was he vanquished again?"

"No. Well… Not exactly. He and almost all of his group were killed during the blackout in LA not long ago." That was actually one of the things that had made her cancel on one of their prior attempts to make this meeting happen.

Melinda and Pandora flinched as she hadn't gone into details, just told Melinda that some of her people had been killed during the blackout. Both of their mothers and both of their aunts had been mighty angry when Leo and Andy had come back from the Elders and told them that the LA problem was outside of their jurisdiction. That another group of Champions were dealing with it and they were told to stay put in San Fransisco.

Buffy centered her mind again; this was in the past. Yes, the new loss of Angel was heartbreaking, but there was nothing she could do about it. Rehashing what had happened would only make her feel even worse. It helped a little that she and Angel hadn't been a couple in years, despite their stolen kisses during some of their encounters since the big official breakup. He would always have a special place in her heart, but it was over.

"Back to you, Pandora. My point is that I can see why your mother made the decision to try and make her marriage work, despite everything. And, not to go all mushy on you, but you wouldn't have been here if your mother hadn't decided that her demon boyfriend was worth the effort."

"Do you have children?" Given where their little chat had lead them it was a natural question.

"No. Slayers can't have children once Chosen. It has something to do with the Slayer Essence using our fertility to enhance us and to permanently attach itself to us. I don't really understand how it works." Robin Wood had been incredibly upset when they had found that information, but no matter how much they had researched no one had been able to find anything which contradicted it. There had been a few Slayers in the past who had had children, but once they'd dug deeper it had turned out that all the children had been born while the mother was still a Potential. Nikki Wood was proven to have been the Slayer for three years when Robin was born, but there didn't seem to be any information as to how he came into Nikki's custody or why as she obviously didn't give birth to him nor did she have a boyfriend

"I'm very sorry. I can't imagine not being able to have children some day." She gave a slightly crooked smile. "Growing up in such a large and close knitted family has made me want the same in the future." Buffy nodded. It wasn't the first time anyone had expressed similar things both to her and to other Slayers. Faith had been one of the few who had been relieved.

Suddenly Buffy's phone rang. Speak of the devil, the name on the little screen said 'FAITH'. She sighed, now what? It was four days until her next check-in.

"Sorry ladies, but it's Faith. She won't call unless it's really important."

The two of them nodded. "Yell or call if you need any assistance." They looked around carefully and seeing no one Melinda orbed out while Pandora shimmered. Buffy blinked at that as it hadn't come up during any of their conversations. Her phone kept ringing though and she pushed it aside as she slid the button on her smartphone so she could answer.


	6. Tensions

**Rating** : Gen, vaguely implied Faith/Robin and Chris/Bianca.  
 **Challenge** : The 2016 August Fic-a-Day. _Day 29_.

It took nearly nine weeks for Buffy to accept another meeting with Melinda. Not because she didn't want anything to do with her anymore, but because the call from Faith was to relay some tragic news and she had to head back to Cleveland to deal with it. However Buffy was finally back in the same little town she'd been in over two months before, and as she walked into one of the local cemeteries she spotted her Witchlighter. Beside her stood a slightly younger teenage boy with medium brown hair in a slightly shaggy cut. Like Melinda he gave off a vibe Buffy had mentally dubbed the 'Angelic Vibe', which meant it had to be Chris - Melinda's younger brother.

"Hi!" Her guardian angel greeted brightly.

"Hey." Buffy's own greeting was a little more subdued. Things on her end wasn't going very well, and even Faith was seriously thinking about hitting the road despite her domestic bliss with Robin. Which, come to think of it, probably meant they weren't as blissful anymore.

"Before we're getting into the not-so-happy conversation that has caused your dark mood... This is my little brother, Chris. Chris this is Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And yes, I've wanted to introduce you like that since before you agreed to meet everyone." The Witchlighter's grin was infectious and Buffy gave her an amused smile back.

"Hi, Chris. Did curiosity kill the Witchlighter?" Melinda hadn't mentioned bringing anyone along today.

"Hi." He had a nice smile, but one; he was jailbait at 17, and two; according to his sister he already had an older girlfriend. "Killed? No, but I did want to meet The Slayer. According to my sources in the demon world you're legendary."

"Technically I'm *a* Slayer, not the *the* Slayer. The torch was passed on when I was killed the first time."

"No one cares. As far as the demon community is concerned you'll be the *THE* Slayer as long as you live, and the general consensus is that that will be a long time."

"Moving on in a less than smooth way, and I take it that by the glum tone that things back home are not going well? What kind of emergency took over two months anyways?"

"Remember me telling you about my group of friends from back in Sunnydale?" A nod from Melinda and a slight frown from brother, and she continued. "One of them, Xander, was caught by a group of demons. They kept him hostage for several weeks, and by the time we found him they had done irreparable damage. Including gauging out his remaining eye, which meant that at best he'd be blind for the rest of his life. We got him to a hospital where he spent nearly a week fighting for his life before succumbing to his injuries."

The two siblings looked at her, then at each other and back again, "We're sorry for your loss."

"Thank you." Buffy sighed. "While we were searching for him and while he was in the hospital things were... Not good exactly, but there was a familiar sense of comfort and sharing in an almost tragedy. Then he died and they turned on me, as if it was all my fault somehow. I know it's unlikely I could've done anything, I am *not* their personal bodyguard, but it's just so like them to do this."

At this point Melinda hugged her and began murmuring comforting words in her ear, while Chris stood a little awkwardly to the side just watching. Privately Buffy was pretty certain he was wondering if he could orb out to avoid the minor female emotional upheaval without getting into trouble with his big sister later. The thought made her lips twitch upwards in a small smile.

Having someone hug her just because she wanted to make things better had become an unfamiliar feeling over the last few years. The last person to genuinely hug her had been her mother, and her inner child wanted to cry in her mothers arms again so she could make everything better. Barring that, she wanted her friends or even her bratty little sister to give her some physical comfort, or even better she wanted Angel to hold her. Kiss her. Even cross that line they had only been able to cross once. But that wasn't happening, and instead she was standing in a random cemetery with her own personal guardian angel giving her the best hug she'd gotten in way too long.

It wasn't that Dawn or Willow hadn't hugged her, they had. Even Xander and Giles had embraced her on occasion, but there had been no real consolation. It had been empty; done more out of duty, because it was expected, or, in Xander's case, because he wanted into her pants. It had been one of the reasons why she had gone to Spike after her resurrection. That and he wouldn't break if she forgot herself and used too much of her strength.

Buffy straightened herself, "Thanks."

"Anytime. You need to get a better support group around you. I would've suggested my family, but we're not supposed to cross over into each others corners of the magical world that much. Come to think about it, there's some leeway. There's nothing in the rules that says I can't invite you over for dinner every now and then. Everyone knows the basics; you're a mystical warrior who has been chosen to fight vampires and demons. We fight demons. So the need to keep secrets isn't that big."

Even Chris grinned at that, "Don't you mean that mom would love to feed her?" Both Halliwell's gave her a once over. She was short but thin, and thanks to her Slayer metabolism she needed more food than growing teenage boys.

"Hey! I can't help that." But she was smiling.

"Did everyone in your old group turn on you, or was it just some of them?"

"Faith didn't turn on me. She took my side and read them the Riot Act several times, for which I'm eternally grateful. Dawn cried on me, but whined at everyone and not just me specifically. For once she didn't join the people who ganged up on me, but instead tried to keep out of it. When I was finally able to leave Cleveland she asked if she could call me once a week like Faith, but without the reports. It's progress, I suppose. Or maybe she's suddenly realizing that no one is safe from the demons, but that I've gone to great lengths to ensure her well-being in the past."

Chris nodded, "Self-realization and self-preservation are usually good things, but it sounds like you're likely to get at least one tag-along soon."

"Dawn might beg to come along during the Christmas break and probably at least part of the Summer, but I doubt Faith will stay for long. We already know how that will end and it's nowhere good."

This time it was Melinda's turn to nod. "So everyone but Faith and Dawn. Meaning your opponents is your former best friend Willow and your former Watcher, and in addition there's a bunch of Slayers from the Battle in Sunnydale. Correct?"

Buffy gave an affirmative response.

"What do they gain from having you around their headquarters?"

"The main presence of Slayer power, and my reputation." Thanks to her long tenure as a Slayer, then swallowing part of the demonic essence the Shadow Men forced into her, and then finally Willow using her as the main focus to activate the Potentials and there was no one more powerful than her. Once the Hellmouth had been closed and she'd gotten away from it, and all the negative people in her life things had looked up. Buffy had gotten the time to really get a feel for the force of her new power, and the potency it brought her. Meditation and serenity along the road had given her an inner balance she had never known before, as a direct consequence she was now more in tune with *all* of herself. It was probably related to something Kendra had tried to tell her way back when.

"Any demons and vampires think twice if they know I'm somewhere nearby, and while Faith has a reputation of her own it's nothing like mine. On the flipside, there's always those who attack *because* they know I'll be there and they want to make a name for themselves."

"It sounds a lot like the demons who keep shimmering into the Manor in the hope of killing mom and the aunts, only to get vanquished." Melinda sounded thoughtful, then she looked at her wristwatch and added. "Speaking of the Manor, Chris and I are expected there in a minute. Will you be okay?"

"I'll be fine, and I'll think about what you've said. Both of you. Take care."

"Of course. And you be careful." Orbs started to appeared before they went away. "I forgot. Next time I'll bring Rose so you can meet her, and if we manage that I'll get mom and dad to invite you for dinner." A happy smile and she orbed away in the blue and white lights. Chris had already left.

Standing alone in the cemetery Buffy started walking, hoping there would be something she could kill to take the edge off of her frustration with Willow and the others.


	7. Realizations

**Challenge** : The 2016 August Fic-a-Day. _Day 31_.  
 **A/N** : This is the last part of 'The Slayer and the Witchlighter'. There may or may not be a sequel in the future.

Earlier in the day Buffy had met Primrose 'Rose' Halliwell, the youngest of Melinda's siblings. The girl was a lot like Buffy herself had been back when she had been 15; happy, interested in boys, partying, friends, and killing off demons. Their way of doing the latter was different though, as she had mostly used physical violence and melee weaponry while Rose and her family were using magic and potions. Still, she could relate.

The meeting itself had been short as Rose had a date later on and needed time to get ready, but the introductions were made and everything seemed to be going well. So as far as meeting the Halliwell family went she was two siblings and one cousin down, only another eight cousins to go. Not counting the parental generation. Before the two sisters had left Buffy had been invited to dinner a week and a half later at the residence of Piper Halliwell and Leo Wyatt. The Witchlighter had even jokingly hand drawn a polite, formal invitation and handed it over with a big grin before she left. Melinda would pick her up from wherever she'd happen to be at that point and orb her to the house.

Now however, she was waiting for her fellow Slayer. Evidently the relationship between Faith and Robin had finally collapsed, and according to both Faith herself and Dawn the final showdown had been spectacular. Dawn had gone as far as describing it as an 'epic story on why one should never step out on a Slayer'. Which Buffy had translated to 'Robin cheated on Faith and Faith caught him in the act'. The end result had been that Faith decided to take a break from the Cleveland Hellmouth and just hit the road for a while. Robin had been kicked out of Slayer HQ by a large group of teenaged Slayers who were all offended on Faith's behalf.

Faith had already packed a bag and hit the road at that point, but she'd gotten the story relayed from several of the young girls involved who were sad that she chose to leave - even if it was only temporary. It was good that the other Slayer had finally gotten someone, or in this case several someones, who were willing to stand up for her and not just let her deal on her own. The road had beckoned though, and she'd asked for permission to join Buffy for a little while before she took off on her own to blow off some steam her own way. Buffy was honestly looking forward to Slaying again with the other half of the Chosen Two; it had been to long and hopefully they would have time for a couple of sparring sessions as well.

Two hours after her meeting with the Halliwell sisters and Faith had arrived on her motorcycle. She looked dusty from nearly a week on the road, but judging from the smile on her face she had taken out some of her anger on something demonic along the way. Chances were she'd gotten some else along the way as well.

As soon as Buffy had made eye contact with the other woman something at the back of her mind began to grate, and she got the feeling that something wasn't quite right. It had nothing to do with Faith, but there was something at the back of her mind that just wasn't adding up somehow but she couldn't pin-point what. She let it go and just let her sub-conscious ruminate over it while she caught up with her friend.

However after the fifth time she zoned out Faith called her out on it. "Yo, B. What's up with spacing out on me?"

"Sorry. It's just... Actually I'm not sure what it is, but it's like something's off. I can't figure out what. I saw you and this sense that I've missed something important began."

Faith frowned. "Is this something Slayer related?"

"No. Or, at least I don't think so." It was just outside of reach, but the thought or memory wouldn't come close enough for her to examine it.

"Is it about Xan?" Buffy winced as a thought occurred to her, and then she blanched as realization hit her.

"Oh my god!"

"Buffy?" Faith took in the blonde Slayer's horrified look, the sudden use of her actual name a testament to how unnerved she actually was by Buffy's outburst.

"I could've gotten him help, but it didn't even cross my mind. Xander's dead and Willow's right; it is my fault." Buffy put her hands over her own mouth to stop herself from babbling even more. What had she done? Or rather why hadn't she gone for the obvious solution to Xander's health problems?

"No! Whatever's just dropped into your head, it wasn't your fault. You were nowhere near him when he was taken, you didn't make him go on a date with yet *another* demon. You didn't torture him. You did kill most of the demons who tormented him, and you did everything you could to get him help afterwards."

"But I didn't do everything! I could've called on someone to heal him, someone who has the power to heal almost all injuries. He could've made it. Why didn't I call her? Text her?"

"Her who?" Faith blinked. The Slayer Organization had a number of witches and healers on staff, but they had all been called in and they had done their best save Xander. In the end they had all failed.

Buffy decided to throw caution to the wind and ignore the relayed, but very vague, warning not to tell any of her people about the other parts of the magical world. She needed a second opinion, a sounding board, and Faith always gave her own blunt opinion on things. She drew in a breath and centered herself to calm down before she slowly exhaled as she began talking again. "You know how I've been talking to someone while I've been traveling?"

"Yeah. I got the impression it was an old friend or acquaintance."

"It's not." Buffy debated with herself on how to explain Melinda; what she was, what she could do, and if she should include the witch part of the explanation or not. She shrugged mentally, this was Faith she was talking to. Nearly a decade of being tentative friends, enemies bent on killing each other, then tentative friends again, and finally allies, and she still had no time for long-winded expositions.

"Four, maybe five, months ago a teenage girl showed up in blue and white lights while I was patrolling a cemetery. After a few failed attempts she managed to explain that she was my guardian angel, or Whitelighter as she said her kind are actually called. They protect, help, and *heal* their charges and victims of various demons. She proved her healing ability by healing a gash on my arm."

Buffy looked down at the ground, before she met Faith's eyes again. "They can heal nearly all injuries, even if the person is really close to death. Basically as long as there is life there's a chance a Whitelighter can heal whatever it is."

"What did she say when you told her about Xan?"

"That's just it. She and her brother, who was also there so I could meet him, didn't react as if there was anything out of the ordinary. They gave their condolences. Melinda hugged me. They behaved like not calling for Melinda when one of my oldest friends was dying was completely normal. It didn't cross *my* mind until I saw you that I should've called for her. It's been more than two and a half months, why hasn't it come to mind before now?."

"Giles said Xan had several kinds of unhealable demonic toxins in his body. He said no one could've healed him, no matter what. None of the healers were able to heal even a small scratch on him. Neither could Willow. Not even when she channeled both mine and your power through herself and into him."

Before Buffy could reply a group of vampires in full 'grrr' face showed up looking for dinner. The park the two women had met up in was partly secluded, but still both of them took a quick look around to ensure that no one was looking before engaging the stupid young vamps in the dance of death. Rather than simply put a stake through their undead hearts the Chosen Two decided to prolong the fight so as to give themselves something to hit. Buffy because of her regret in not thinking of calling for her guardian angel to heal Xander despite the warning not to reveal Melinda's existence to her people; and Faith so she could deal in some aggression therapy to try and heal her broken heart.

Twenty five minutes and a lot of dust later, and they sat down on a nearby picnic table to continue their talk. Thanks to their the round of violence, and the endorphin's it caused, they were in a much better mood afterwards. Buffy opted to continue their talk as if they hadn't just spend nearly half an hour fighting and permanently killing six of the undead.

"I know that, and intellectually I understand that she most likely couldn't have done anything the other healers couldn't, but..."

"But you feel like it's your responsibility to fix everything, even when the person or people in question haven't been your friends in years. Have in fact blackmailed, ridiculed, tried to control you, and basically been a bunch of hypocritical bastards towards you since before Sunnyhell fell into a crater."

Then a though occurred to Faith, "Do you think the PTB did something so you wouldn't call for her and so your guardian angel wouldn't think it was weird?"

Buffy frowned, then she took out her smartphone and quickly typed in a short message before hitting send.

Faith gave a throaty laugh, "Did you just send a *text* message to your *guardian angel* on your *phone*?"

"What? She lives in the 21st century, too. Unlike Giles she isn't technophobic." Faith just looked at her. "Fine, we have a deal. If it's an emergency then I just yell out her name and she'll hear me and orb to me as quickly as possible. If it's not then I either call her on the phone or send a text message. Since it's not an emergency, and I already talked to her earlier today, I'm sending a text."

A little over ten minutes later her Witchlighter appeared in the familiar blue and white lights. Beside her she noticed Faith startle at the sudden light.

"Hi. That message was really unhelpful, you know." The young woman began speaking even before the orbs had gone away completely, but she suddenly tensed when she discovered that her charge wasn't alone.

"Who's your friend?" Beside Buffy Faith had crossed her arms underneath her chest.

"Melinda, this is Faith. The other half of the Chosen Two. Faith, this is Melinda. My guardian angel." It was a simple introduction, and straight to the point.

"She's not why I wanted to talk to you though." And without any preamble she just went straight for the question she wanted an answer to. "How come you didn't find it strange that I didn't call for you so you could heal Xander?"

Melinda blinked, then frowned. "I don't know. It's odd. Normally I should've sensed your distress and felt an increasing need to go to you so I could try and help with whatever was causing you pain if you didn't call for me first."

"Can you ask the Elders if they did anything?" At this point it wouldn't surprise her in the slightest. The Powers That Be was on the top of her list, quickly followed by the Elders. Both had the power to modify memories, but given who had the most secrets in this instance her vote went to the Elders. Melinda gave an affirmative reply and orbed out again.

"She's a looker."

"Really, Faith? Someone's been messing with my memories or perception or whatever, and all you have to say is 'she's a looker'?

"What? She is. Jailbait, too. Probably." Buffy didn't bother to correct the assumption and continued their conversation instead.

Nearly twenty minutes later Melinda reappeared, and she looked a little angry and very annoyed.

"It was the Elders. They temporarily made you not think of calling me in fear that you would reveal Whitelighters and so on to your group. And they are not happy about you telling Faith.

This time Buffy rolled her eyes. "Faith is fully capable of keeping her mouth shut."

Their scrutiny over the situation went on for a while before they decided to call it quits for the night. Melinda needed sleep, and the two Slayers needed something to kill just to take the edge off their anger at the Elders for interfering. However they agreed to meet the day after to talk it over some more.


End file.
